We report on an innovative computer-adaptive assessment, the Comprehensive Research-based Early Math Ability Test (CREMAT), using the case of 1st- and 2nd-graders' understanding of geometric measurement. CREMAT was developed with multiple aims in mind, including: (1) be administered with a reasonable number of items, (2) identify the level(s) of…

This study examines the influence of a parent workshop intervention on vocabulary acquisition of at-risk preschool children during parent-child shared storybook reading. Sixty-nine parents were randomly assigned to either treatment or control group. In the treatment condition, parents were taught to implement elaborated vocabulary instruction…

Reading motivation is an important factor that can predict reading performance in elementary school. The present study aimed to investigate whether reading motivation could mediate the relationship between reading skills at the beginning of school and reading performance in the middle of elementary school. Longitudinal data from 979 students (52%…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to describe how pre-primary teachers use instructional materials to equip children with skills requisite for surviving and competing in the 21st century, particularly in the developing world's context. The phenomenography study design used purposive sampling to select 24 pre-primary teachers in six…

Shyness is a form of social isolation and withdrawal stemming from concerns about social judgment, particularly during new situations or tests. Shy students are afraid of interacting with others, leading to problems and frustration at school. Teachers play an important role in identifying and helping these students. The research objective was to…

This study investigated how specific characteristics of multipiece, miniature, realistic play props (thematically open-ended village set versus thematically closed-ended train set) designed to enhance children's pretense influenced their scenario creativity, object transformations, and the frequency and use of specific internal-state language. The…

Abundant research has explored interactive book reading and children's literacy learning, but little is known about interactive digital book reading among families with refugee backgrounds. Drawing upon theoretical perspectives on social semiotics multimodality, this study investigates what happens when parents and children with a refugee…

The unprecedented onset and extensive spread of COVID-19 has affected the lives of citizens around the globe. Children, in particular, have been thrust into modified and new learning environments. Although the global lockdown has confined so many, it also has connected people from different but shared experiences. One program that supported such…

The present study sought to understand parents' perspectives on the ease with which they felt they could play with their children during the initial period of social distancing. Seven hundred and five participants answered a 48-item questionnaire. This manuscript is focused on one Likert-type scale question and an open-ended follow-up question.…

Although parental help with homework has been long understood as a valuable part of parental involvement with children's education and, as such, an important mechanism shaping educational inequality, previous studies showed contradictory findings about its influence on academic achievement. Using multiple waves of the Early Childhood Longitudinal…

Since 2002, university students from the United States have had the opportunity to enroll in practicum experiences in Denmark while studying abroad. The dilemmas raised by the American students in practicum in Denmark provide a unique window through which to view pedagogical practices from different cultural perspectives. The students are able to…

This article details the findings from Project LOCAL (Library Outreach as a Community Anchor in Learning), a mixed-methods study that explored how public libraries contribute to educational equity by going into community locations to reach and serve families and children in underserved communities who cannot come into the library due to a variety…

The current educational climate has emphasized academic achievement and test-driven accountability, prompting many schools to narrow their curricular and school-wide initiatives around math and literacy, eclipsing time for and investment in social-emotional learning. The purpose of this article is to describe an ethnographic case study of a…

This study investigated the effect of traditional interactive reading and interactive reading using mindmaps on children's language competence and their story comprehension and causal reasoning. Furthermore, we explored teachers' dialogic scaffolding in the two approaches and investigated the relation between teachers' dialogic scaffolding and…

This study represents a qualitative exploration of the emotional experiences of early care and education (ECE) teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Research questions consisted of the following: (1) "What were the emotional experiences of ECE teachers during COVID-19?" (2) "How do ECE teachers understand, contextualize, and/or…